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UK Denies Entry to MP Wilders; Dutch Government Protesting

THE HAGUE, 11/02/09 - The United Kingdom has denied MP Geert Wilders entry to the country. Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen phoned his UK counterpart David Miliband yesterday to express his dissatisfaction.

Wilders, admired and loathed for his Islam criticisms, was due to visit London on Thursday at the invitation of a British Senate member. But he received a letter yesterday from the British ambassador to the Netherlands telling him he was not welcome. Reportedly his visit would constitute a threat to public order.

Verhagen’s ministry stated that the Netherlands “utterly regrets the British government’s decision” to deny Wilders access to the UK. The MP had been invited by a British Upper House member in connection with his 15-minute anti-Islam film Fitna. Wilders was previously told he would not be allowed to show the film in parliament. Now his physical presence has also been rejected.

Whether the MP should or should not be allowed to show Fitna to members of the British parliament “is a decision of the House of Lords”, stated Verhagen. “But a member of the Dutch parliament being prohibited from entering a fellow European Union nation is very regrettable”, said Verhagen, who has “voiced his dissatisfaction” in a phone call to his UK counterpart David Miliband.

Wilders told reporters he would not be discouraged by the “scandalous” decision of a “bunch of cowards”. He added he may still travel to London. “I am serious considering boarding the plane. Than I will just see what happens at the border,” stated the leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV), currently the third biggest party in the polls.

Verhagen said he first contacted the ambassador after finding out about the unusual step. He “urged” the UK via the ambassador “to reconsider the decision” to refuse Wilders. But “as the decision is a matter of the British Home Secretary, Justice Minister Hirsch Ballin is to discuss (the matter) further with his British counterpart.

“The United Kingdom is sacrificing freedom of speech. One might expect this in Saudi Arabia but not in the UK,” said Wilders. He added his film would be shown “in the Italian parliament next week” and “in the United States in a couple of weeks”. Wilders earlier showed Fitna in Israel.

An appeal court in Amsterdam ruled in January that Wilders must be prosecuted for “incitement to hatred and discrimination” and “insult of Islamic worshippers” for statements he made on Islam in the media and in Fitna. The Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) had established in 2008 that none of Wilders’ statements were illegal. But the OM must bring a case against the MP anyway.

Wilders stated among other things: “I have had enough of Islam in the Netherlands: no new Muslim immigrants anymore. I have had enough of the worship of Allah and Mohammed in the Netherlands: no more new mosques. I have had enough of the Koran in the Netherlands: Ban that Fascist book.”

The appeal court considered that “hate is created” among other reasons due to Wilders’ “method of presentation which is characterised by biased, strongly generalizing phrasings with a radical meaning, ongoing reiteration and an increasing intensity.” The court apparently did not take into account that Wilders has repeatedly stressed that he is targeting Islam, not Muslims.

http://www.nisnews.nl/public/110209_1.htm